


counting sheep

by Timebugs



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Hermits are mentioned - Freeform, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, lots of sobbing, the void is a jerk, x you knew this was happening why didn't you mention it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27133288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timebugs/pseuds/Timebugs
Summary: zed is experimenting on the void, little does he know what's to come...
Kudos: 20





	1. falling

**Author's Note:**

> rewrite! totally didn't forget I had this account-

“Haven't you heard what happens to curious minds?”

The void was a concept of wonder, no one had been down there long enough without dying to see what it was like; Except the banned the players, but they were never coming back. Zed on the other hand was absolutely determined to find out what lay beneath the surface of the seemingly never ending darkness of the void. He planned weeks in advance for this experiment, getting impulse to break a small hunk of bedrock so he could access it and buying as many totems as his diamonds would allow. He bought potions of all kinds and then the day came.

He was ready.  
\--------------  
It wasn't out of ordinary for hermits to die by falling out of the world but he told the others not to panic seeing this would happen many times, simply telling them that this would be for an experiment and there was no need to worry. They all acknowledged it and went about their day, working on projects and ignoring the occasional buzzes of death messages.  
The hermit conducting these tests though, wasn't fairing as well. Everyone knew that dying over and over again in such a small space of time would have consequences; nausea, tiredness and sneezing to name a few of the more minor issues. He shuffled through his inventory once more, grabbing two more totems of undying. This was the last experiment; then it'd be done and he'd finally be able to rest.  
Without a second thought he plunged himself into the void, falling in headfirst before twisting onto his back. He fell for a decent while before both totems went off simultaneously, spraying him in the face with pale yellow and green particles and momentarily disorienting him. Shifting his vision over to the communicator he had on his belt he noticed the shards of glass fracturing off the device, was he still falling? He was too exhausted to tell and his mind was foggy, the magic of life and death that was contained in the totems mixed with exhaustion and the void definitely wasn't pleasant and could definitely mess with your head.  
Squinting at the fractured screen, he tried the best he could to make out the text he was seeing. It was abnormal for someone to fall for this long and not die, time worked differently in the void so who knows it may have only been a second or even a week. shoving shards of glass off of the communicator he blinked again trying to get a better look before bringing it to his face, almost dropping it.

< zedaph plays has fell out of the world >

There it was, written in a blinding white almost taunting him. If he had died, why hadn't he respawned? He pondered the idea for a bit, gaze fixed on the white text before deciding to contact xisuma. He typed out a message and hit enter only to be greeted with a pop up saying he didn't ‘have the required permissions to perform this action.’  
Defeated, zed clipped the communicator back to his belt and prepared himself for the dreadful suffocating feeling that came with dying to the void. That feeling came mere moments later, sending the hermit into a state of panic, horse gasps for air came out before he hit something solid and came back to his senses. He lurched forward expecting to be greeted by the warm cave walls of his base but instead they're was nothing be inky black void and a small humming noise coming from all directions. Zed felt the surface he had landed on, it was unexpectedly smooth to his surprise. Suddenly a voice broke through the humming, projecting itself from all directions.

"We've been expecting you zedaph"


	2. fallen

He glanced around not spotting anything of the ordinary, nothing defining where the voice could have come from. “W-whos there” he mumbled, not having the energy to stand up. It was a few moments later when he got a reply “i am the void” the voice boomed almost like it was surrounding him. He scuttled back a bit before feeling something cold grip his shoulders, whipping his head round instantly. There was nothing behind him but the grip stayed, radio static now filling his head.  
Covering his ears he went over his thoughts, he had to be rational about this; surely this just had to be some sick joke right? He sighed and curled into himself, shaking. His breathing became quicker as the static became louder and louder, the voice of the void now a mere whisper. It was absolutely freezing, like the void had wrapped itself around him and diminished whatever warmth he had left.

"Don't be afraid, zedaph, we won't hurt you"  
Zed could barely hear what they were saying and tears were threatening to spill. He hated being left in the dark about things, He was a quivering, shivering mess with no understanding of what was going on and he hated it. “I-if this is some cruel joke you, you better come out soon!” he whispered, trying to muster any energy he had left. The void cut through the static again tutting at him like he was a stubborn child, was this the void's way of showing empathy? The rational thoughts were slowly fading away, making way for panic and fear to arise. A single tear raced down his cheek, then a few more and it escalated into the hermit hugging his knees and crying into his chest; he had convinced himself that this was some cruel prank and was begging for them to stop, even if he knew he was lying to himself. He knew if the other hermits were really pranking him they would have stopped by now, he knew this wasn't a joke. Then the void split through the static once more, almost stopping it completely.  
“We just want to help you”  
He lifted his head up from his knees slightly, not on freewill but something inside him screamed at him to not lose hope. It revealed zed's eyes were red and bloodshot, partially from exhaustion the other from crying. “G-guys it not funny anymore...”  
he attempted to get up, failing miserably and landing flat on his back. He sobbed again, small whimpers escaping his mouth. he couldn't deny this any longer, this wasn't a joke or a prank or anything of the sort.

He was trapped  
\-------------------  
The radio static continued, filling his ears with the grainy noise. He realised that the void was absolutely freezing and reached out to it with little strength he had left, even if his whole body was screaming at him not to he had to give it a shot.

"Please...help me-" his voice faltered as he felt himself freeze up - what was happening? His head fogged up, where was he? He couldn't move at all either. He couldn't resist, couldn't protest, couldn't fight back. Nothing. He was truly helpless, silently begging the void to let him go - was this what the void meant by helping him? The static started up again, filling his head with the horrendous noise. He shed a single tear before he felt his eyelids drooping, then closing completely.  
Only one thing got through the static, the void, it cycled through different hermits voices. It was almost comforting in an odd way.

"Sweet dreams zedaph"


	3. freckles

Zed shakily opened his eyes, they were only half open but he was immediately blinded by white light. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the brightness - the complete opposite of the void. He yawned, blinking a couple times; he realised he couldn't move and settled for glancing around. There wasn't really much around, just white space. There was the occasional particle that brushed against his skin, the only warmth he could get, sparkling and twinkling around him. He looked at himself too, the cuffs of his sleeves were frayed and his hands had faint black lines running across them.

With little energy he had left he tried to lift his arm up, partially succeeding with being able to bring it up to his face and inspected it. The lines revealed themselves to be much larger than he first expected, noticing small freckles accompanying them.  
The scars, if he could even call them scars, seemed to look like they were emitting void particles. They contrasted harshly with the small white embers of this white nothingness. One of the embers however landed on the thickest line, it sizzled up before turning black hitting a few of the other ones and turning them into particles as well. Zed winced, it was almost like a scold; he recoiled his hand and held it close to his chest, it stung.

Looking around again as the space grew duller, all the particles bouncing off each other and turning black. He looked at his hand, gaze fixated on it before he felt it. The room turned a sickly black, reverting back to void matter and wrapping itself around the hermit. He panicked remembering what happened last time, he curled into himself - desperately trying to save shallow breaths before they would be inevitably taken away from him. He felt his throat grow tighter by the second, clinging onto the last few bits of air before starting to splutter. Surely he’d respawn this time right? Right?... 

He gasped for air, the falling sensation starting up again and sending him into a loop of coughing and gasping - draining him to the very core. He wished he would hit the ground right there and then, being able to respawn in a soft white bed and not this wretched place. His chest tightened too, the void slowly getting to him as the quiet hum of the radio static started up again in the background. This couldn't be happening again, thunder never strikes twice they say but the void on the other hand; the void was ruthless. His stomach crashed about like ships at sea, only half haphazardly holding his good hand to his mouth. He blinked a couple times, seeing if he could get back to the white haven. Instead he felt himself freeze up again as his hand flopped back down by his side, they were back.

“Dear zedaph, do you need help again?” the void suddenly spoke. It seemed as if it was mocking him, taunting him for being weak and making fun of him for not having the energy to carry on. He halted for a moment and thought about his options, only for them to be interrupted again by the static leaving one thought untouched.  
Accepting the offer, it was the only way he could possibly get out of this endless cycle of suffering. The hermit nodded, a small whimper accompanying it instead of speech. His eyes drooped again, radio static filling his senses and only vaguely hearing what the void had to say, it reminded him of last time... His mind going blank and shutting off completely

“Sleep well zedaph”


End file.
